1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to input devices used as pointing devices and to input pointers for use in input devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers have become more multifunctional in recent years, there is a growing need for pointing devices, functioning as computer input devices, that are capable of carrying out more functions of the computer. For example, some mice, the most widely used pointing devices, are provided with switches on the lateral surfaces of the main body, as well as on the top surface.
Many switches disposed adjacent to one another on a mouse, however, are more likely to cause the user to press an incorrect switch, which decreases the mouse operability. For this reason, there has been a demand for a mouse which is provided with many switches while still maintaining easy operability.
One possible approach for preventing the operability of a mouse from decreasing is to provide switches at sites other than the top surface and the lateral surfaces of the mouse so that the switches are not disposed close to one another. A mouse provided with a switch on the bottom surface is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-11211 (pages 2 to 3 and FIG. 1).
The mouse in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-11211, however, cannot have a switch disposed on the top surface of the main body due to its structure, and thus only a small number of switches are available with this mouse. More specifically, to operate the mouse in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-11211, the main body of the mouse needs to be tilted by pressing the left-front shoulder portion or the right-front shoulder portion of the mouse. The front portion of the mouse refers to the portion in contact with the user's fingertips, where switches are generally arranged. Thus, if a switch were arranged on the top surface of the main body of the mouse in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-11211, the switch on the top surface would also be pressed when the switch on the bottom surface is pressed. This means that the structure of the mouse in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-11211 does not assume that a switch is arranged on the top surface. Therefore, a method employed with the above-described mouse, that is, a method for providing switches on the bottom surface of the mouse does not achieve an object of providing a mouse with many switches while still maintaining high operability.
This is the reason there has been a growing need for pointing devices that are highly operable although provided with many switches for carrying out many functions of the computer.